Bombay HC Slams BEST for Terminating Contract of 40 E-Buses

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday quashed a notice issued by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST) terminating a contract with a private company Olectra Greentec Ltd for 40 electric buses.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Olectra Greentec challenging a notice issued on August 30 by BEST, terminating the former’s contract to supply the electric buses. Olectra had been awarded a contract to supply 20 air-conditioned and 20 non-air-conditioned electric buses and by June, it had manufactured 24 electric buses, in view of the stipulation that 25% of the buses had to be delivered in three months.

The court explained “The record indicates and that there cannot be a semblance of doubt that the petitioner responded to the tender. The petitioner’s tender/bid was accepted by issuance of, not only a letter of acceptance, but a formal contract work order. Above all there is a candid acceptance of the award of the contract to the petitioner, in the BEST’s letter dated 28 May 2018 addressed to the DHI, as referred by us above. as referred by us above. If this be the case, then for the BEST to say that there is no contract between the parties, goes against the fundamental tenets of law on contracts and the basic principles of commercial jurisprudence.”